Trivia Question of the Day

Sports Law Blog reader and Roger Williams law student Thomas Santanello shares a trivia question: Is this the NBA or the NFL?

* 36 have been accused of spousal abuse.
* 7 have been arrested for fraud.
* 19 have been accused of writing bad checks.
* 117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses.
* 3 have done time for assault.
* 71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit.
* 14 have been arrested on drug-related charges.
* 8 have been arrested for shoplifting.
* 21 currently are defendants in lawsuits.
* 84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year.

Answer here.

Although these statistics--as the source correctly notes--are mere urban legend, they are based on an underlying truth (i.e., a higher percentage of congresspersons break the law or behave badly than we assume), and they seem to beg the question: Why don't we spend more time worrying about the trouble-making lawmakers we elect than about the trouble-making NBA and NFL players we follow? And shouldn't we expect more of congresspersons than NBA and NFL players? And yet despite frequent scandals and poor behavior, over 90 percent of U.S. Representatives and U.S. senators are somehow re-elected, and many even run unopposed. Quite a democracy we have.

So, to do our part, we at Sports Law Blog should probably write more about stories that matter-- the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, Tom Delay's indictment, Duke Cunninghman's bribery plea--than whether Allen Iverson should be able to wear a doo-rag or whether Greg Oden should be able to enter the NBA Draft.

Nah, forget that. Back to Iverson and the Olympic Team snub . . .

Posted in: